The governor’s office said on Thursday that all restaurants located in the state’s orange zones – except in New York City – would be allowed to temporarily resume indoor meals at half capacity, but with certain additional restrictions in place, reports the Politico .
The decision came after a New York state judge announced on Wednesday that several restaurants in Erie County would be allowed to operate temporarily at half capacity. About 100 county restaurants sued the state using state data, which showed that restaurants and bars accounted for 1.4% of COVID-19 cases in the state compared to private family gatherings, which account for almost 74% of cases.
The judge issued an injunction in favor of the restaurants, saying the state had not provided sufficient justification for the additional restrictions, including a ban on eating indoors. The judge’s decision, however, is temporary, with a final verdict expected next week. The decision also applies to restaurants in Erie County that filed the lawsuit. To avoid confusing guidelines across the state, however, the state has now temporarily moved all restaurants that were previously within the orange zones to the yellow zones, while waiting to file the case in court, according to a spokesman for the state.
“We disagree with the court’s decision and its impact on public health, since the data from the federal CDC clearly demonstrate that it increases the spread of COVID-19 in indoor meals,” said Kumiki Gibson, attorney for the New York governor, in a statement to the Politician. “Since the beginning of this pandemic, the State has acted based on facts and on the advice of public health experts, and we will continue with this approach.”
The restaurants in the yellow zones can serve up to four people per table, inside and outside, although the restaurants still have to obey the rule of half capacity indoors. Although NYC currently has an orange zone in the south of Staten Island, the decision does not apply to the city, where indoor dining remains banned in the five districts.
State officials have cited the city’s population density, advice from the Centers for Disease Control on the potential risk of spreading the virus in closed restaurants and the fact that the city was previously the epicenter of the virus in the US, as reasons for keeping meals institutions close indefinitely as cases increase across the state.
Still, many restaurant owners in the city are confused by the decision to allow indoor dining in locations adjacent to New York, such as Westchester, Long Island and New Jersey, while the ban remains in effect in the city. Following the state’s announcement on Thursday, the NYC Hospitality Alliance – which represents thousands of restaurants in the city – also expressed dismay at the decision.
Andrew Rigie, the group’s executive director, said the decision is “even more outrageous and destructive to thousands of restaurants in the five districts, especially when our infection and hospitalization rates are lower than most counties in the state where it is allowed. eating indoors. with 50 percent occupancy. ”The state also faces a flood of lawsuits filed by several city restaurant owners who oppose the ban on eating indoors.
On Thursday, the state’s COVID-19 positivity rate was 6.42 percent, and NYC has one of the lowest percentages of hospitalized patients in relation to its population, compared to other regions of the state, although there are currently 3,292 patients admitted to NYC.